How Many Pieces are there to a Soul?
by MetallicAngel30
Summary: Ankhara was Anck-Su-Namun's younger sister. A younger sister that carried a huge torch for Imhotep. To regain the family honor her sister threw away by killing the Pharaoh, Ankhara become's Imhotep's guard in his undead journey. His jailer and, if need be, the one to put him back in his grave. Will she get the happy ending she so desperately wants?
1. Sacrifice

_**A/N 9/25/2018: I was originally going to make this a Bella/Imhotep cross, but I was having a hard time coming up with a way to put her in the past...in both pasts. lol I could have done the '30's or so easily enough, but Ancient times...eeehhhh...I may change it...so don't get too hung up on it yet...let me know what y'all think. If I should continue this or work harder for a Bella/Imhotep pairing. ~Angel**_

 _ **Thebes, City of the Living, crown jewel of Pharaoh Seti I.**_

 _Pharaoh Seti I rode into Thebes on his chariot to his men bowing and presenting arms as he passed. He rode in as a returning conquerer after yet another campaign with the Mitanni._

 _ **Home of Imohtep. Pharaoh's high priest, keeper of the dead. Birth place of Anck-Su-Namun, Pharaoh's misteress. No other man was allowed to touch her.**_

 _At the same time the Pharaoh was riding into the city, a young beautiful woman was walking into one of the sleeping quarters. She wore nothing but a cloth over her most intimate of parts. The rest was body paint. A form of cruelty the Pharaoh forced on her, so he would know if she was touched by another. She passed a priest, and he bowed, diverting his gaze. Anck-Su-Namun smirked, loving the superiority she had. But her target was waiting just ahead. Imhotep. Anck-Su-Namun was attracted to power, and while the Pharaoh was the living god on earth, Imhotep had power over death itself. Such power was irresistible to the young woman. She wanted to live forever._

 _ **But for their love, they were willing to risk life itself.**_

 _Anck-Su-Namun walked right up to Imhotep. She didn't touch him at first, just passed her hand over his face in their greeting. He too didn't touch her at first, bringing his hands down on either side of her, before he finally grasped her arms and captured her lips with his. As he kissed her, his hands rubbed against her arms, smearing the body paint._

 _Just as the priests were about to shut the door, they felt them being pushed open again from the other side. They moved out of the way to reveal the Pharaoh Seti himself. He had ridden far and wished to see Anck-Su-Namun this night. He looked around to see the priests and was confused._

" _What are you doing here?" he asked them, but they did not answer. Instead, he focused on finding Anck-Su-Namun. He could smell her bathing oils from here. Just beyond one of the curtains, he found her standing next to a small statue of Bast. He smiled at seeing her, but turned enraged when he saw her paint had been disturbed._

" _Who has touched you?!" he demanded, pointing to her arm. Anck-Su-Namun looked down and noticed her smeared body paint as well. She looked up at the Pharaoh, searching for an answer, but her attention was diverted to Imhotep, who had come up behind him. Seti, seeing her preoccupation, turned as well._

" _Imhotep?! My priest!" Seti was incredulous, but in his destraction, he didn't stop Imhotep from taking the Pharaoh Seti's own sword. Nor did he see Anck-Su-Namun raise a dagger and plunge it into his back. Seti screamed in agony. He began to fall, but Imhotep brought a fresh wave of pain when he swung the sword across the injured Pharaoh's side. Again and again the attacks came until he finally fell dead._

 _Just as the last breath of life was leaving his body, there was pounding on the door. Imhotep pulls the sword one last time from Seti's body._

" _Pharaoh's bodyguards," he said through the high of his kill. He wondered how they were able to know so quickly that Seti needed their help._

" _You must go! Save yourself!" Anck-Su-Namun urged._

" _No," Imhotep stated simply. If they were to die, they would die together._

" _Only you can resurrect me!" she tells him, pulling his attention from the banging on the door to her. They looked into each other's eyes until Imhotep's priest came and pulled him away by force._

" _I won't leave you! Get away from me!" he commanded, but they didn't let up. Anck-Su-Namun passed her hand over his face one last time in farewell, as the priests managed to pull him away._

" _You shall live again," he promised, then yelled from farther down the hall. "I will resurrect you!"_

 _Anck-Su-Namun was brought back to the present circumstances when the Medjai burst through the doors and passed the curtain. They looked down to see the body of their beloved Pharaoh cooling on the floor. They then looked up to Anck-Su-Namun, drawing the obvious conclusion._

" _My body is no longer his temple!" she declared, before plunging her dagger into her own midsection._

 _ **To resurrect Anck-Su-Namun, Imhotep and his priests broke into her crypt and stole her body. They raced deep into the desert, taking Anck-Su-Namun's corpse to Hamunaptra, City of the Dead, ancient burial site for the sons of pharaohs, and resting place to the wealth of Egypt.**_

 _ **For his love, Imhotep dared the gods anger by going deep into the city, where he took the black Book of the Dead from its holy resting place. Anck-Su-Namun's soul had been sent to the dark underworld. Her vital organs removed, and placed in five sacred canopic jars.**_

 _Imhotep and his priests did indeed race into the city, and he did in fact lift the Book of the Dead from where it was kept in state, and now, this daring venture came to a climax as he stepped up to the dais where the body of his love lay, cold and still. He began to read the necessary passage as his priests chanted and bowed repeatedly, offering their own souls to Osiris in payment._

 _A black shroud of spirit rose from the pool beyond them, and floated over to Anck-Su-Namun on the dais, spreading over her as a shroud, and sinking into her body. This was it! Imhotep had nearly done it. All that was left was to seal the spirit back into her body, by plunging the dagger that took her life into her heart._

 _ **Anck-Su-Namun's soul had come back from the dead, but Pharaoh's bodyguards had followed Imhotep and stopped him before the ritual could be completed.**_

 _Before Imhotep could finish the incantation, before he could completely bring Anck-Su-Namun back to life, the Medjai quickly grabbed a hold of Imhotep, stopping the dagger's downward trajectory into Anck-Su-Namun's body._

" _No!" he screamed in despair as her soul, her Ka, once again rose from her body and dashed howling back into the black pool just beyond._

 _ **Imhotep's priest were condemned to be mummified alive. As for Imhotep, he was condemned to endure the Hom-Dai, the worst of all ancient curses. One so horrible, it had never before been bestowed.**_

 _The Sah-Netjer was rife with the terrified and dying screams of his priests. Imhotep sent a prayer up to the gods that he would have the strength to see this through with dignity. Not knowing that in their anger, the gods had all but turned their backs on him. The form of mummification the embalmers were using was crude, and meant to cause the most pain possible, so that when the Ka left the body, they left broken and were condemned to wonder the realm of the dead, never to go beyond to be judged by Osiris._

 _Imhotep endured having his tongue cut out, though how he didn't choke on his own blood, he didn't know. The embalmers didn't heat the blade so it would cauterize as it cut. Compared to that, being wrapped in the cloth for mummification was nothing. This however, was no mummification. Instead of dying naturally, and being painstakingly prepared for the afterlife, the wrappings they were giving him were more of a binding than anything else. Panic began to set in when he heard the tell tale skittering of the scarabs. There was a reason the Hom-Dai had never been done before._

 _The scarabs were poured into the sarcophagus that was to be both his prison and his tomb. Then the heavy lid placed on top, and a lock turned to seal him in. Twice over._

 _ **He was to remain sealed inside his sarcophagus, be undead for all of eternity. The Medjai would never allow him to be released, for he would arise a walking disease, a plague upon mankind, an unholy flesh-eater with the strength of ages, power over the sands, and the glory of invincibility.**_

…

 _ **But through the ages, someone important was lost. Forgotten. Mankind's last hope should the Creature return. Ankhara, Anck-Su-Namun's younger sister. Where the elder sister craved power and prestige, Ankhara desired nothing more than peace. To live a happy life with the man she had given her heart to. But it was not to be, for the man she had given her heart to, what Imhotep.**_

 _A young woman with waist length brown-black hair, chocolate colored eyes, and sun kissed skin, ran through the halls of the palace once she heard news that her sister was dead. No details were given, only that her sister and the Pharaoh were dead, and Imhotep was on the run. Seeing her sister laid out for burial sent a knife straight through the young woman's heart. She and Anck-Su-Namun may not get along, but she was still her sister. A hand patted her shoulder and she turned to see the Medjai chieftain standing before her. Ankhara bowed quickly, and a little sloppily due to her distress, but with all respect._

" _My Lord Commander. What happened?" she asked him. The man had a sad look on his face._

" _The princess witnessed the Pharaoh being murdered from her balcony," he said softly._

" _Murdered?! By who? Was it they who killed my sister as well?" The chieftain shook his head._

" _No. It was Anck-Su-Namun and Imhotep. They are the ones who murdered the Living God."_

 _Ankhara shook her head. "It is true, child. And for this treason, your family has been dishonored." The chieftain's words were a hammer blow. To be dishonored in the kingdom meant exile. Her mother was already dead, but her father? Her father would be tossed to the streets and no one was allowed to help him, on pain of death._

" _What is to happen to Imhotep?" she asked nervously and with dread._

" _His sentencing has yet to be determined. Rameses will pass judgment after his ascension. For now, he will allow your sister to be prepared for the afterlife, but she will not have any amenities or guides. She will have to find her way on her own."_

 _Ankhara broke down in tears. She stayed with her sister's body until night fall, when eventually, her fatigue won out. She went to her rooms to try to get some sleep. It was all for naught, however, when she was awoken by bedlam happening out in the halls._

" _What's happened?" she asked a passing guard._

" _The High Priest Imhotep escaped his quarters and stole the body of the Pharaoh's mistress," he said quickly. Ankhara gasped. Imhotep was a priest for the dead. If he was going to do what she thought he was going to do, he would be heading to Hamunaptra._

 _Throwing on her sandals and grabbing her little dagger, Ankhara mounted her horse and rode, straight and true...but she was too late. She arrived in time to see the Medjai restrain Imhotep and the spirit of her sister go wailing into the spirit pool beyond the altar._

 _She stayed, hidden in the shadows, and watched. She watched as the soon to be Pharaoh Rameses was summoned. He decided not to wait and passed judgment there. The priests were to be mummifies alive. Imhotep was to be devoured. The thought made her ill. He may have loved her sister, but she loved him. He was always kind to her. Calling her his little friend. She knew the barest minimum from Imhotep that those who were condemned with this punishment were never to go beyond to meet Osiris. Taking a steady breath, she made herself known to the Medjai chieftain once he was alone._

" _Commander," she murmured quietly, and bowing in respect. "I have a request."_

" _You are not in the favor of the king. What would this favor be?"_

" _A chance to regain my family's honor, for the sake of my father. The former high priest will be cursed to wonder. He will be a terror should he rise again. I wish to stand guard. I offer my soul to guard his through the ages. To put him back in the ground should he leave it."_

 _The chieftain studied the girl for a moment. "This is not a choice to be made lightly. You know if I allow this, you die this night. And should he rise, you shall too. What of your friend Antonius. I was under the impression the two of you were to be married."_

 _Ankhara nodded. "I know. But it would be foolish to leave him on his own now, thinking he will never be a danger to anyone. Fear not, Antonius and I are merely friends. He will understand."_

 _He studied her once more before nodding. "Very well. We will make the preparations. And we shall do all in our power to ease your passing. We will take care to mummify you so you may be whole as you watch over him. We of the Medjai will also do all in our power to pass on your story. So should he and you wake, you will not be alone."_

 _Ankhara bowed to the Chieftain. "Thank you."_

 _ **And so it was. Ankhara, sister to Anck-Su-Namun, followed Imhotep. She watched over him as she watched over the changing land. But the chieftain's promise was mostly forgotten. All but one clan eventually wrote her off as a legend. Their most pressing concern would be the Creature. But the line of the original chieftain still held true. Should the Creature arise, Ardeth, son of Arif, would be there to help.**_


	2. The Pain of Life

_**A/N 9/29/2018: Alrighty guys. I said this in my SOA crossover updates that I figured out how to get a Bella/Imhotep cross. This is true, but I thought I'd post the message here too. Like I said, I may take some time to put it up, as I have to figure out how it'll end, seeing as this story took my original ending, but it'll be great! It just may take a bit more time than I thought and I hope y'all will be patient with me. Now, I started this where Ankhara and Imhotep wake up because the story is following Ankhara, not Evy or the others. Some history, the Sai's you see Anck-Su-Namun using in the second movie, yeah, those wouldn't be in Egypt during the 19th dynasty of the Middle Kingdom (Which was when Seti I ruled). Those were a Feudal Japanese melee weapon. So I had those be an import of sorts, as it wasn't uncommon for Egypt to trade with the east, just not that far east. The khopesh was a sword fashioned in the Old Kingdom, and used all throughout the Egyptian Empire. The 19th dynasty wasn't even part of the first Iron Age of the near east at that time, that having started somewhere around 1,200 B.C. to give you a point of reference. It was about 1,500 years before, give or take. So yeah, there, you learned something. lol I hope y'all like the story. (And the mini history lesson. Sorry, history is a passion) ~Angel**_

This was it. Evy, Jonathan, and O'Connell had traveled all this way to get to Hamunaptra, and Evy was as excited as a little ballerina getting her first point shoes, or a bibliophile getting a new book. Being in a place like this was the pinnacle of her career, discovering a city that had been thought lost for the last 3 millenia. Her only problem was in the form of Egyptologist Allen Chamberlain. The man thought he was the god's gift to Egyptology and studying a long lost civilization. She could tell he did it for any notoriety he may get, not from an actual love of said civilization.

The fact that he got his hands on what she was positive was the Book of the Dead made her want to pull her hair out. She loved finding the sah-netjer, never having seen one intact and untouched before. Showing O'Connell the trick with the mirrors that shone light in the room, seeing hieroglyphs all along the walls, and the reliefs of battle and ancient rulers. And though she lost out on working on the statue of Anubis, she had found the mummy, even if he was in less than ideal condition. She could ignore the literally screeching winds and the skittering within the walls just for those alone.

But now- Now that everyone had gone to sleep, she had managed to sneak into the American's camp and take the book from Dr. Chamberlain. She just wanted to be able to study and read it before he made it impossible to get anywhere near it.

"That's called stealing, you know," O'Connell said, with his eyes still closed as if he were sleeping.

"According to you and my brother, it's called borrowing," she said wryly, going over to Jonathan and sifting through his drunken pockets to find the key he had originally lifted off of O'Connell. She goes back over to the book she had laid near the fire so she could read it, putting her fingers on the corresponding parts of the key to open it.

"I thought the Book of Amun-Ra was made out of gold," O'Connell said.

"It is made out of gold," Evie replied. "This isn't the Book of Amun-Ra. This is something else. I think this may be the Book of the Dead." The key snapped open and she placed it to the lock, turning it so the book's locking mechanism gave way.

"The Book of the Dead?! Are you sure you want to be playing around with this thing?" he asked, not sure if he even wanted to be in it's vicinity.

"It's just a book. No harm ever came from reading a book." Opening the heavy cover, the wind suddenly picked up and let out a howled across their camp.

"That happens a lot around here," O'Connell muses. Evy's attention was fully on the first page, however. "So, what's it say?" he asks curiously.

" _Amun Ra. Amun Dei._ It speaks of the night and of the day. _Suweyah harumuktu sinmasibet baya imatipinsupikeh setsuay yatueh yatueh yatueh,"_ her voice echoed, before Dr. Chamberlain woke with a start and saw her reading from it.

"NO! You must not read from the book!" he yelled at the frantically. They began to hear a the sound of distant wings and skittering on the wind. Looking to the western horizon, they saw a black shroud against the dark, almost black blue of the night sky, shifting and molding it's form as it got closer.

Just as the mass got close enough for them to see it was a swarm of locusts, they heard one of the Americans yell out, "Run!"

Everyone made for the entrance into the city, finding a reprieve from the biting swarm in the maze like tunnels.

"Where the hell did they come from?!" panicked Burns.

"I ain't waiting around to find out," replied Henderson, as he lead the party deeper into the tunnels.

Burns tripped and he glasses fell off his face. Considering he was blind as a newborn without them, his panic skyrocketed.

"My glasses! My glasses!" he said, his hands moving blindly along the sand covered floor looking for them. He heard one of his party, Beni, approaching behind him, shaking off the remaining locusts.

"Leave me! Leave me!" he said in a thick Hungarian accent.

"Hey! Hey!" Burns tried to get his attention. "Could you help me find my gl-" Oh Beni had helped him find them all right. By stepping right on them. Burns heard the chink of breaking glass as it ground beneath Beni's heel. Then he saw the light of the torch that he dropped leave with the voice of Beni shouting after the others.

"Wait for me!"

Standing, and placing his glasses up close to his face, he could see that the damage was extensive and the ocular help piece was ruined, well and truly. Not wanting to stay alone where he was, Burns began walking. With shuffling footsteps, one hand in front of him, one running along the web covered wall, and his eyes squinting hard to get any form of vision to work for him, he made his way alone in the deep underbelly of Hamunaptra.

Seemingly long into his trek, he hear what sounded like a rock hitting another. "Who's there?" he asked. Not getting a reply, he pulled his gun and aimed it down the tunnel from the direction he just came. "Who's there?" he yelled louder. Again, no reply. Only a low growling and a high pitched screaming. Like a child running away from another in a game of tag. Now with one hand in front of him and his other aiming his gun, he began walking again. But he hadn't gone more than a few steps before he felt someone behind him. He turned quickly, and saw the blurry outline of someone down the hall.

"Daniel's?" he asked. He felt someone behind him again and turned, but there was no one there. Turning back to the figure he had originally seen, it was gone. That was when he figured out he had made a mistake, taking his eyes off of the man to begin with, because he could now hear and feel someone breathing heavily behind him.

Terrified, and wanting nothing more than to get out of this cursed city, Burns turned, and screamed at what he saw. A mummy. A living, walking, mummy.

~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~

O'Connell, Jonathan, and Evy were all making their way through the tunnels when there was what seemed to be an earthquake, but then a small protuberance popped up out of the ground, like an oddly shaped barnacle. Before they could contemplate it's sudden appearance, thousands of insects began screeching and skittering out of it in a wave.

"Scarabs!" Evy yelled, as she and Jonathan began running in the other direction. Remembering what she said about these bugs being flesh eaters, O'Connell followed, throwing his torch into the swarm and then shooting at them, for all the good it did. They eventually made it to what looked like a bridge, all three jumping to outcroppings along the wall as the swarm went by. They were all shaken as they narrowly made it away.

As Evy was watching, the bit of wall at her back opened, like a door, and she fell through.

"Evelyn?" Asked O'Connell once the swarm had passed.

"Evy?" Jonathan said, once he realized his sister was missing.

"Evelyn?" O'Connel said louder.

"Evy!"

~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~

Coming out of the slide the trap door had given way to, Evelyn heard someone groaning around the corner. Looking, she saw that it was one of the Americans. Burns.

"Oh, Mr. Burns," she said in relief. "Thank goodness. I was just starting to get scared. I've lost everyone."

She then screamed as Mr. Burns turned and she saw nothing but bloody black holes where his eyes should have been, and blood spitting out of his mouth.

"My eyes! My eyes-" he said in a muffled voice. Evelyn turned only to come face to face with the mummy she and her party dug up earlier. Only with one major difference...he was alive! It growled at her, and she screamed her head off.

Keeping her eyes on the walking corpse, she backed away until she felt herself hit a wall. It followed her, and seemed to be studying her. She couldn't tell, because he didn't have any eyebrows, but it seemed as if he was astonished she was there.

"Please help me," she said to Burns in a quiet panic as he had fallen and began to crawl away.

"My tongue. He took my tongue!" he said in agony, as he continued to move away.

"Please don't leave me," she pleaded, but that only brought the mummy's attention back to her. She gasped as he did so, not wanting to be the center of his attention, let alone in his presence.

" _Anck-Su-Namun?_ " he asked in an unearthly, deep, gutteral growl.

Evy shook her head negatively as she continued to stare at the mummy in horror. She began to inch her way away from him along the wall, but he kept pace and distance between them. He then spoke again, holding his hand out.

" _Come with me my Princess Anck-Su-Namun."_

"There you are. Will you quite playing hide-and-seek? Come on. Let's get out of here," O'Connell said as he ran up to her. Evy didn't take her eyes off of the mummy. Turning to see what had her attention, O'Connell's eyes widened in fear. "Whoa!"

"Evy!" Jonathan yelled as he rounded the corner, before coming to a sharp stop in front of them, dropping his torch in surprised terror of the walking mummy before them. The mummy then turned back to Evy and O'Connell, his attention having been taken by the new comers, and roared at them in anger.

O'Connell roared back before shooting the corpse and drug Evelyn away by her arm.

"Move!"

"Yeah, right," Jonathan said, following them. "Did you see that. It was walking. It was walking!"

They all made it out of the tunnels, only to stop as they were held at gun point. The chieftain of the Medjai that O'Connell had fought the night before removed his face covering and spoke.

"I told you to leave or die. You refused. Now, you may have killed us all, for you have unleashed a creature that we have feared for more than 3,000 years," he said in terrified anger.

"Relax, I got him," O'Connell tried to assure.

"No mortal weapon can kill this creature. He's not of this world." The chieftain moved aside as two other Medjai warriors came through, supporting a devastated Burns.

"You bastard," whispered Daniel's who took his friend from them.

"What did you do to him?" Henderson asked.

"We saved him. Saved him before the creature could finish his work," the chieftain said. "Now, leave, all of you, quickly, before he finishes you all. **Y'allah! Nimshi!** "

The armed warriors behind him began to advance into the city. "I must now go on the hunt, and try to find the way to kill him."

"I already told you, I got him," O'Connell reminds him as the chieftain went to pass. The man stopped and turned back to the idiots who woke the cursed beast.

"Know this, this creature is the bringer of death. He will never eat, he will never sleep, and he will never stop," the Medjai said to him before he turned and walked with his brethren where the American party exited.

~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~

For the most part, being undead was rather peaceful for Ankhara. Imhotep had focused his power on those that had tread into Hamunaptra, hoping to either scare someone into finding and waking him, or causing one of the Medjai who stood guardians over his burial grounds, to turn and follow him. Neither worked, and Ankhara was saddened that he continued down the path that had brought him to his death. By following her sister.

While being undead was peaceful, finding herself alive inside a sarcophagus was excruciating. To be torn from relative peace to being unable to feel because she didn't have a rightly working body anymore, and her spirit feeling everything as it was housed in a stiff mummified corpse after 3,000 years. After the initial scream of agony upon awakinging, she had to focus on getting out of her tomb, housed not far from Imhotep. She could feel that he was once again among the living, so to speak, with her, and that he had begun his process of regeneration. It wasn't much. A few facial things, though, she couldn't pinpoint what they were.

She hoped that if she could sense him, that he couldn't sense her. Doors can be opened and walked through both ways, if one wasn't careful. Lifting the heavy lid of her sarcophagus, Ankhara climbed out, her skeletal hands taking hold of her khopesh. Where her sister favored the weapons brought from the far east, Ankhara trained with the weapons of her land. The curved blade was still, miraculously, sharp.

" _Imhotep. I am coming,"_ she said.

~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~

She came across the Medjai party before she did Imhotep. Nearly all of them aimed some sort of weapon at her, so she stopped, holding her hands out.

" _I mean you no harm_ ," she tells them. They continued to aim their weapons. _"Please. I only walk because Imhotep walks."_

Ardeth caught the name Imhotep, but the language of the old gods had long been lost to the people. Seeing this creature was human stirred a memory. One of his grandfather telling him that there was one, in the time of Imhotep, that gave her life and eternity to watching a guarding the creature. One who would wake and help stop him.

"Anara," he said in a murmer. The creature looked to him, shaking her head, her dried mummified lips giving what he thought was a smile.

" _Ankhara,"_ she said. Ardeth looked at the mummy before them. Over 3 millenia had passed, some things were bound to be slightly off. He nodded.

"Do not shoot her. She is awake because the creature is awake," he tells the others.

"How do we know it doesn't work for him?" demanded Zahir, his captain.

"Your tribe may not tell her story any longer, but mine has not forgotten. The sister of Anck-Su-Namun. The sister who pledged her eternity to ensure the creature is put back into the grave should he leave it, to restore the honor of her family," Ardeth tells them. Some lowered their weapons completely, while others merely aimed them away, but kept them at the ready.

He studied the woman. The only language he knew that changed the least over the span of time between them was Hebrew. Ge gave it a shot.

" **You seek the creature? You are Ankhara, sister to Anck-Su-Namun?"** he asked.

" **Yes. I need to find Imhotep. I must fulfill my mission if I am to gain peace once more** ," she tells him.

" **What about your regeneration? The creature will take the lives of those who woke you. How would you regain your strength?"** he asked her.

" **I died with honor, having regained it by volunteering to watch over him. I never lost my strength. As he regenerates, so shall I. Our souls are connected. Our very beings are connected. I just hope he hasn't figured it out, yet. Every advantage is needed against is quest to regain his strength and resurrecting my sister."**

" **We were just looking for him in the city-"** he tried, but she cut him off.

" **No. He is no longer in the city. He has followed his quarry out of it."** This caused the those that understood Hebrew to stir restlessly. Ardeth sighed.

" **We will find you a covering, so you won't draw panic, and lead you out of the city. I will follow you, wherever you feel him and follow him. I am Ardeth, son of Arif,"** he said with a bow.

" **You must be descended from Amir. His clan always did favor like names,"** she said as she gave what he thought was an approximation of a laugh. Working with a mummy to catch a mummy was going to be rather interesting, Ardeth thought.


	3. What has become of civilization

_**A/N 10/10/2018: Jesus guys! I'm so sorry. I tried uploading this chapter yesterday, but not even my hotspot was working. Hopefully, within the next couple of weeks, I'll have my internet bill paid in full, and turned back on and I won't have this problem again. I'm going to try and finish the final chapter of Ssn one of DFTR, but thanks to SOME JERKFACE! Upwards of 400 parts were bad at work and they have to pull another 2400 units (whole windows) from the warehouse to inspect and either fix or toss, so I'm looking at some serious OT until further notice. (That means 10 hour days and saturdays...UGH!) Then a machine broke tonight...that wasn't fun. So yeah. I'm going to try and update semi regularly like I do, but it depends on how much sleep I get and my hotspot signal...fingers crossed, and I hope y'all enjoy!**_

It had been decided that it would only be Ardeth, Ankhara, and a select chosen and trusted of his fellows that would follow Imhotep into Cairo. That was the city that Ardeth had told her they had entered. However, if she remembered her geography right, it had previously been the area of Memphis. She was amazed at how far humanity had come in the 3,000 years that separated her civilization and this one. She saw the camels. Those were the same. And the dry arid climate was the same. But that was it. The buildings were different. The language was different. The clothes were different. Everything. She felt a stab of pain that there seemed to be nothing left of her people but ruins. Imhotep was the only one who spoke her tongue, and he was solely focused on raising her sister.

They reached the interior of the city sometime in mid-afternoon. Unfortunately, she could feel Imhotep's anticipation. He was bordering on giddy. She had a feeling that he was about to kill one of the people who opened the chest that housed Anck-Su-Namun's organs. Her fear was confirmed but a few moments later, as they were walking into the building he was currently, when a rush went through her. She could feel the itchy sensation of skin regrowing. She gasped and stopped, grabbing a hold of a nearby pillar with a skeletal hand.

" **Are you well?"** Ardeth asked her.

" **Imhotep has made his first kill. Since I regenerate as he does, I am taking a moment to steady myself as I become whole,"** she explained. Once the feeling passed, she held out her hand, making sure that no one else could see it, and saw that while still skeletal, dry, and brittle, she once again had normal skin.

" **We must hurry,"** she said urgently. Making her way where she could feel Imhotep.

Inside, she could see the fountains flowing red. The first of the plagues. But it was only minutes later that fire began raining down from the heavens. She made her way quickly up stairs, running as she heard Imhotep's otherworldly scream. She could hear loud cracks as some sort of weapon was fired repeatedly at him, and entered the room just as a body came flying out. She only just managed to side step the falling man and his companions.

She could see Imhotep speaking with a woman. A woman who looked alarmingly like the princess. But she didn't dwell on that fact. Imhotep was her concern.

" **Imhotep!"** she exclaimed, getting the mummy's attention.

" **Anck-Su-Namun?"** he questioned. She flinched at the affection in his voice, but held her ground. Her grip tightening on her khopesh as she brought it to bear.

" **Wrong sister."** she said lowly, removing her hood so he could see her features, that were just starting to come in.

"Two?! There's two mummies!" she heard a man exclaim from behind them.

" **Ankhara. Why do you stop me, my little friend? Join me. We can resurrect your sister, and rule this land,"** Imhotep offered, holding his hand out.

" **This is no longer our land, Imhotep!"** she said to him emphatically. **"These are different people, in a time wholly removed from our own!** "

" **Then we will make it like it once was. Why are you impeding me from raising your sister? Why do you stand against my happiness?"** Imhotep asked her.

Ankhara looked at the mummy of the man she had loved in life. The man she had followed into death to regain her family's honor. The man who, even now, refuses to see her as anything more than the younger sister of the woman he was obsessed with. For that was what Anck-Su-Namun was to Imhotep. An obsession. And he was so blinded he couldn't tell the difference between obsession and love.

" **If you have to ask that, then you can not understand,"** she said simply.

" **Then stay out of my way,"** he said before turning to Evelyn. **"You saved me from the undead. I thank you."** Imhotep went to kiss her, but was distracted by a cat landing on an instrument of some kind. Imhotep became afraid and immediately became a swirling sandstorm right in the middle of the room, before flowing on the winds out of the window. Ankhara turned to Ardeth.

" **I'll find you. But I must follow him,"** she said.

Without waiting for a reply, she too turned to sand, though she had the good sense to run to the window first before doing so. Ardeth, not wanting to leave his charge, ran down the stairs to follow, but by the time he made it out of the building, the two storm clouds had vanished into the city. He decided, instead, to find his good friend Terrence. Dr. Terrence Bey was a distant relative, and a Medjai working undercover at the museum in Cairo.

"The creature has awoken," he said, without preamble. Dr. Bey sat back in shock.

"How?" he asked.

"A group made their way to Hamunaptra. One of the party, a woman, read from the Book of the Dead."

Dr. Bey made a noise of horror. "Evelyn Carnahan. As smart as that girl is, she really can't help but find the biggest messes to create."

"There is something else, as well," Ardeth went on. Terrence looked up at him in curiosity. "Do you remember the legends of the girl who followed the Creature into death?"

Terrence nodded. "Yes. Anck-Su-Namun's sister if I remember correctly."

Ardeth nodded. "She is real as well. Woke with the creature and we both followed him here. He is picking off those that opened the chest and stole the canopic jars within."

"Well, where is she now?" Terrence demanded.

"We found him, but he was scared off by a cat. She gave chase," Ardeth explained.

"Thank Allah for small favors," Terrence breathed.

"Thank Ankhara for being willing to follow him into death. Though now that I have witnessed their reunion, I believe it may have been for more than just regaining her family's honor."

"What do-"

"YOU?!" they heard a female voice interrupt.

"Miss. Carnahan. Gentlemen," Terrence said to their intruders.

"What is he doing here?" she asked in a voice dripping with contempt.

Terrence shot Ardeth a quick glance before turning his attention back to Evelyn and her party. "Do you really want to know, or would you prefer to just shoot us?" he asked sarcastically.

The man that had pulled his guns from the holsters under his arms put them away. "After what I just saw, I'm willing to go on a little faith here."

Terrence gestured for them to follow, and brought them farther into the exhibit. "We are part of an ancient secret society. For over 3,000 years, we have guarded the City of the Dead."

"And you think this justifies the killing of innocent people?" Evelyn asked indignantly.

"To stop this creature? Let me think?" Terrence said, again, sarcastically. "Yes!" he said at the exact same time as Ardeth.

"Question," the man they had since learned was named Rick pipped in. "Why doesn't he like cats."

"Cats are the guardians of the underworld. He will fear them until he is fully regenerated," Terrence explained.

"And then he will fear nothing," Ardeth put in.

"Yeah. And you know how he gets his self fully regenerated?" asked the American, Mr. Daniels.

"By killin' everyone who opened that chest," another American, Mr. Henderson, said calmly as he played with his gun. As if he wasn't one of the targeted as well.

"And suckin' them dry! That's how!"

There was then a breeze and everyone looked to the opening of the exhibit to see another figure walking in. They were shrouded so they couldn't see, the person, but they moved jerkily, like they were either really stiff or insanely angry.

" **Were you able to find him?"** Ardeth asked.

" **Yes and no. He has always been faster than I,"** she said lowly, so she wouldn't startle the others with her obviously dry and dead voice. **"Fear not. I will get another chance."**

" **We were just explaining to the others about what he is,"** Ardeth explained. Ankhara nodded, but said nothing.

"Jonathan, will you stop playing with that?" Evelyn snapped at her brother, who was toying with a bow on one of the chariots on display.

" **Is this what has really become of my people and heritage?"** she asked sadly.

"When I saw him alive at Hamunaptra, he called me Anck-Su-Namun," she said nervously. Ardeth looked quickly at Terrence, then at Ankhara. "And then just now, in Mr. Burns' quarters, he tried to kiss me."

" **What does she say?"** Ankhara asked.

" **The creature. Both times he's seen her, he has once called her by your sister's name and another time, tried to kiss her. She wants to know why,"** he tells her.

"It's because of his love for Anck-Su-Namun that he was cursed. Apparently, even after 3,000 years-"

"He is still in love with her," Ardeth finished, again, sending a look towards Ankhara.

"Yes, well, that's very romantic, but what has it got to do with me?" Evelyn asked the two men.

"Ankhara has said that his goal was to once again raise her from the dead," Ardeth tells Terrence.

"Yes. And it appears he has already chosen his human sacrifice." They both look at Evelyn.

"Bad luck, old mum," Jonathan said to her, leaning over the side of the chariot.

"On the contrary. It may just give us the time we need to kill the creature," Terrence tells them. Ardeth's focus however, was not on the conversation any longer, but at the sun that was currently being blacked out.

"We will need all the help we can get. His powers are growing," he said. Gesturing to the sun.

" 'And he stretched forth his hand towards the heavens, and there was darkness throughout the land of Egypt'," quoted Jonathan.

It was then Ankhara stepped forth, in front of them all, threw off her shroud, and stretched her own hand towards the darkened sun. She could hear the gasps of those that caught sight of her, and a few odd clicking noises at her back.

" _ **Fear not,"**_ she tells them in her native tongue. Both the woman and the man in the chariot tilted their heads. Almost as if they could understand her. _**"It will be I that returns Imhotep to his grave. No matter the cost to me."**_

As she said these words, the darkness fled from the sun. This effect was two fold however. For as the light returned to Egypt, Imhotep became aware of the connection. And she could both hear and feel the howl of anger through their bond. But she only smirked in sad acceptance. This was the fate she had agreed to. If she couldn't have Imhotep as her lover, she would keep him close by being his jailer. It was a sad, masochistic view, but she would rather have him in her life, than not at all.


	4. Persistent thoughts

**_A/N 10/13/2018: Alrighty. I managed to squeeze this in through all of the insane OT I've been doing. Couldn't stop thinking about it at work. lol I wanted to clarify a couple of things. One, the title. The Ancient Egyptians believed there were 5 separate parts to a soul. The Akh, the Ba, the Ka, the Name, and the Shadow. The Akh was your physical mortal body. The Ba was your personality, of sorts. The Ka, was the thing that made you uniquely you. Your name was important because upon death, your Ba and Ka would leave your body, and if your body didn't have a name attached to it, both would get lost. That's why the cartouche was so important at grave sites. And then the Shadow. Shadows were considered powerful, as they were the opposite of light. They offered shade and protection._**

 ** _Next I wanted to clarify was the canopic jars. In the move there were five, but they only used four. Each jar lid represented one of the four sons of Horus, and each watched over a specific cardinal point, and were in used from Old to Middle to New Kingdoms. Though, when the mummification process was streamlined and bettered, people began leaving their organs in their bodies, and using the canopic jars as more tradition than anything. Hapy, the baboon headed god watched the North. In his jar you could find the lungs, and they were guarded my Nephthys. Don't mix him up with Hapi though...two different gods. Next you have Duamutef, with the Jackal head. He watched the east and he housed the stomach, and was protected by Neith. Imsety, the human headed jar, watched the south, contained the liver and was protected by my patron goddess, Isis. (Note: Isis - pronounced in ancient greek as ees-ees- is in fact, greek. Ancient Egyptians called her many names. Predominately Auset.) Finally, you have Qebehsenuef, the falcon of the western skies. His jar contained the intestines, and was protected by Serqet._**

 ** _I could go all day on this civilization, y'all, so I hope you don't mind the mini history lessons. Thank you for your patience! ~Angel_**

Ankhara was rather surprised at the fact that one of the undead, let alone one without a brain, it being taken and discarded during the mummification process, could get a headache. But here she was, the familiar pressure behind her eyes pounding away. It was Imhotep that was doing it. Since he had become aware of their bond, he hadn't stopped trying to convince her to his side. It was an endless litany that kept going in a circle all the way back to the hotel the princess' look alike and her entourage were staying at. She finally got sick of listening to him, and voiced her opinion after another round of his persuasion.

" ** _Why do you persist in being stubborn, my little friend?"_** he asked her. **_"Join me, and the three of us shall have an unsurmountable amount of power. Join me in resurrecting Anck-Su-Namun. Your sister would rejoice at your reunion."_**

" ** _Imhotep, have you forgotten all? Anck-Su-Namun and I hardly ever got along. I came to you many times before your dalliance started, complaining about how superior I thought she was. Anck-Su-Namun is only after one thing. Then and now. Power. She became Seti's mistress because he was who had the most power at the time. Until she met you. Then, her thoughts went along the lines of, how could she let the one who could circumvent death through her fingers? Power like that? At a chance to live forever? It's all for naught, Imhotep. And my greatest fear is that you won't see that she doesn't truly love you until it is too late,"_** Ankhara replied.

" ** _If you are so concerned for me, then why have you become the very person to swear to put me back into my sarcophagus should I rise again?"_** he spat at her in fury.

Ankara mentally sighed, as the living people she was with filed into the room. She figured her best bet would be to follow those Imhotep was hunting. He would find them eventually. **_"If you have to ask that question in a situation such as this, then you aren't ready to know the answer."_** Imhotep was quiet then. It seemed he was focused on something else.

"We must stop him from regenerating. Who opened that chest?" She demanded of Henderson and Daniels.

"Well, there's me and Daniels, here," Henderson said. "Oh, and Burns, of course."

"And that Egyptologist fellow," Daniels listed.

"What about my buddy, Beni?" O'Connell asked.

"No, he scrammed out of there before we opened the damned thing," Daniels said.

"Yeah, he was the smart one," Henderson chuckled wryly.

O'Connell scoffed. "Yeah, that sounds like Beni."

"We must find the Egyptologist and bring him back to the safety of the fort before the creature can get to him," Evelyn said.

"Right. She stays here, you three, come with me," O'Connell said. The others immediately went up in arms, making Ankhara's headache worse.

" ** _Can you understand my words?"_** she asked Evelyn. Evelyn jumped slightly at being addressed by a mummy, but nodded. **_"Why is everyone so angry?"_**

" ** _O'Connell wants me to stay here while he and the others go find the last one that opened the chest,"_** Evelyn replied.

" ** _It is a solid plan. Do you know how to fight in this life?"_** Ankhara asked. Evelyn gave her a puzzled look. It seemed she didn't remember her previous incarnation, then. **_"If you do not know how to fight, you could get the others hurt if you were with them. They would be focused on keeping you safe, leaving themselves open to attack. If you stay here, where you believe yourself to be safe, they can concentrate better on finding Imhotep and his victim."_**

" ** _Victim?"_**

" ** _Imhotep is already hunting him. I can feel his anticipation,"_** Ankhara told Evelyn.

"What is it sayin'?" Henderson asked Evelyn.

"She was explaining to Evelyn why it would be a good idea to stay here," Jonathan answered instead.

"You understand that monstrosity of a language too?" Daniels asked Jonathan.

"Not as well as Evy, but enough to get the gist," Jonathan said.

" ** _They've separated the jars,"_** Ankhara noted, looking at the canopic jars Henderson and Daniels had. **_"That one has Duamutef. Anck-Su-Namun's stomach,"_** she said pointing to Daniels and the Jackal headed jar he held, before going to Henderson and his falcon headed jar. **_"He has Qebehsenuef. Anck-Su-Namun's intestines. Who had her liver and lungs?"_**

"She's telling us about the jars. Who had the other two jars?" Evelyn asked Henderson and Daniels.

"Burns had the one with the normal head," Daniels said.

"Imsety. He had the liver," Evelyn informed them.

"We couldn't find it in his things," he told her.

" ** _Would the creature take the jars?"_** Evelyn asked Ankhara. Ankhara nodded.

" ** _Yes. He will need them for the resurrection ritual to raise my sister,"_** she tells the other woman.

"Your sister?!"

" ** _That means that the one you need to find has the jar with Hapy's head. Her lungs,"_** Ankhara continued, knowing that the woman she was speaking to was surprised at the connection, but ignoring it all the same.

"Want to clue us in on the conversation here, miss?" Henderson asked.

Evelyn, still stunned, informed them, "Each jar held a specific organ after mummification. The liver, lungs, intestines, and stomach. The heart was left in the body, as it was thought to be the source of all thought, while the brain was discarded as useless. The Egyptologist has the jar containing Anck-Su-Namun's lungs. Burns had her liver. Henderson, you have her intestines, and Daniels, you have Anck-Su-Namun's stomach. The creature will need them for the ritual to bring her sister back. He is taking them after he kills."

The two Americans looked at the jars in their hands with digust, setting them on the table in front of them, simultaneously, thinking that the gold on them was most definitely not worth it.

" ** _Do you believe yourself safe here?"_** Ankhara asked Evelyn. Evelyn nodded, reluctantly. **_"I would suggest that the two here remain with you, while the tall one and your brother go find the last man. It may be too late by that time, but it is worth a try."_**

"She thinks Henderson, Burns, and I should stay here while she and the two of you go find him and the Egyptologist," she said to O'Connell and Jonathan.

"Good idea! This one is smart," Daniels said, nodding to Ankhara.

Ankhara knew his type and pinned him with a look. **_"Better than staying with the bait, anyhow."_**

Evelyn froze. **_"Bait?"_**

" ** _Imhotep will find you, regardless of how safe you think you are. He will find you all that much faster, though, should I stay with you. He knows of our connection now. He can use it to track me, and therefore you, if I stay too much longer. If I leave, it will but him at ease, and he will come out sooner. So yes, bait."_**

" ** _That does not instill a sense of reassurance for the bait, however,"_** Evelyn snarked wryly.

"Well?" Daniels asked. Jonathan looked ashen and couldn't answer, and Evelyn didn't want to cause a panic in the two men, so she lied.

"She said thank you," she said simply. Henderson and Daniels smiled, but O'Connell was better at reading lies and seeing tells in people. He figured though, if it was really important, Evelyn would say something.

"Right. You don't leave this room, no one comes in. Understood?" O'Connell asked Evelyn. She gave him a hard scathing look, but nodded.

"Let's go, Jonathan, and- whatever your name is," he said, turning to the door.

"Ankhara. I heard man of the Medjai call her Ankhara," Evelyn tells him as he leaves. **_"Where is he anyway? Your bodyguard?"_**

" ** _He needed to confirm something with the man we just left. Something about a burned map."_** Evelyn blushed, and Ankhara pulled her shroud back over her stringy dead hair as she followed the tall man out, followed by the lanky one.

On the way out of the building, however, they caught sight of a small, squirrelly looking man in a red head covering. They followed him to an office, where he began throwing things about, searching for something, making odd noises as he did so.

"Well, well, well. Let me guess. Spring cleaning," O'Connell said, entering the room and drawing the man's attention. The man tried to run to the window, but O'Connell threw a chair from beside the door at the man's legs, causing him to fall with a cry of pain.

"Nice shot," Jonathan said at the same time Ankhara said something as well.

" ** _Nice shot."_** Jonathan looked at her with a grin.

" ** _My words exactly,"_** he said haltingly.

"Oh, Beni, did you fall down? Here. Let me help you up," O'Connell said, hauling the small man up by the front of his shirt and slamming him into a wall filled with knick knacks.

"You cam back from the desert with a new friend, didn't you Beni?"

"What friend? You are my only friend," Beni said.

"What the hell are you doing with this creep, huh, Beni? What's in it for you?" O'Connel asked.

"It is better to be the right hand of the devil than in his path. As long as I serve him, I am immune."

"Immune from what?"

Beni said something in another language that neither Ankhara or Jonathan knew, but O'Connell seemed to have an idea. "What'd you say?"

"I don't wanna tell you. You'll just hurt me some more," Beni said.

O'Connell got fed up, and dragged Beni to the middle of the room, where he held him up by his shirt towards the whirring metal fan blades. "What are you looking for? And try not to lie to me."

"The book!" Beni exclaimed. "The Black Book they found at Hamunaptra. He wants it back. He said to me it would be worth its weight in gold."

"What does he want the book for?" Jonathan asked.

"Oh, come on, I don't know," he said as O'Connell was relaxing his grip, but he tightened it and held Beni higher to get a better answer. Beni screamed again.

"Something about bringing his dead girlfriend back to life. But that's all, he just want the book, I swear. Just the book, I swear. And your sister. But other than that..."

Three things happened simultaneously that couldn't have been at the worst time. One, the heard an unholy scream from outside of the window. Two, directly after, Ankhara felt another rush through her as more skin grew, filling her out. Her hair, no longer looking so dead. And three, Beni used the distraction to punch O'Connell in the gut hard enough he was forced to let the smaller man go, letting him escape out of the window.

" ** _Can you feel it, my little friend? The rush of power as we regain our former glory,"_** Imhotep said through their connection.

Jonathan and O'Connell rushed to the now broken window, looking down to see the dessicated corpse of the once great Dr. Chamberlain. The creature having taken possession of the second canopic jar and the book Evelyn had used to bring him back to life. Imhotep turned and looked at the two men in the window.

" ** _You may have been able to block my eclipse, Ankhara, but you can not stop the swarm and help your little princess. Choose one, or risk losing both,"_** Imhotep said, as he opened his mouth preternaturally wide and unleashed a swarm of flies out of his maw. The main swarm shot straight for the window, but Jonathan and O'Connell shut the storm shutters just in time to block the attack.

"Well, that's two down, two to go," O'Connell said as they locked the shutters.

"And then he'll be coming after Evy," Jonathan said.

" ** _We'd best hurry back. I don't like the feeling he was sending me,"_** she said, deciding on Evelyn rather than the swarm. It was a case of sacrificing a few, to potentially save all. But would it work?


	5. Only Partly Whole

Everyone, including Ardeth and Terrence climbed the stairs of the museum quickly, listening to Evelyn's plan, born from Ankhara's suggestion.

"Well, according to legend, the black book the Americans found at Hamunaptra is supposed to bring people back from the dead," she said as they walked quickly. "Until now, it was a notion I was unwilling to believe."

"Believe it, sister. That's what brought our buddy back to life," O'Connell stated wryly.

"Yes, and I'm thinking, if the black book can bring dead people back to life-"

"Then maybe the gold book can kill him," O'Connell finished, catching onto her thought.

"That's the myth. Now, we just have to find out where the gold book is hidden," Evelyn said as they made the landing and went to the obelisk that had the necessary writings to find the book. However, their attentions were taken by the sound of many many people chanting one name: Imhotep. They all went to the window to look out of it, and saw said crowd, making it's way to the museum.

"Last but no least, my favorite plague, boils and sores," Jonathan said, looking on the masses.

"They have become his slaves. So it has begun, the beginning of the end," Ardeth said morosely.

"Not quite yet, it hasn't. Come on," Evelyn said, leading all but Ankhara to the obelisk. Ankhara stayed at the window a moment longer. Long enough to see Imhotep in the crown. She heard him shout to the drones around him to charge the museum.

" _ **You would see me destroyed as well, Imhotep?"**_ she asked him sadly. He looked up and saw her at the window.

" _ **Why should I not? You're goal is to see me trapped again between worlds,"**_ he said. Ankhara sighed and left the window.

" _ **Only because you leave me with no other choice,"**_ she said, as she rejoined the others.

"According to Bembridge scholars, the golden Book of Amun-Ra is located inside the statue of Anubis," Evelyn said, reading her passage.

"That's where we found the black book," Daniels said.

"Exactly," Evelyn affirmed.

"Well, it looks like the old boys at Bembridge were mistaken," Jonathan said, watching his sister.

"Yes, they mixed the books up. Mixed up where they were buried. So, if the black book is inside the statue of Anubis, then the golden book must be inside-" she trailed off. Everyone went to the edge of the veranda as the doors to the museum burst open.

"Come on, Evy. Faster," Jonathan urged.

"Patience is a virtue," she sung.

"Not right now, it isn't," O'Connell stressed.

"Uh, I think I'll go and get the car started," Jonathan said, running out the side door.

"I've got it! The golden Book of Amun-Ra is at Hamunaptra inside the statue of Horus. Take that Bembridge scholars," she said excitedly.

~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~

Jonathan had just made it outside when he was confronted by the hoard Imhotep had possessed. It was in that moment, where fear and brilliance merged in a microsecond of inspiration. Jonathan immediately adopted the far away cross eyed look, spun on his heel, and began chanting, hoping to calm the angry mob.

"Imhotep...Imhotep...Imhotep..." he said in a dull, inflectionless voice. Trailing off as the mob slowed and started chanting with him.

Jonathan hung back, letting the boil infested masses pull ahead of him. Once he was certain they were far enough ahead and focused on continuing forward, he ran to his little yellow car and started it's engine. It was then the others came tearing out of the museum, Beni on their heels screaming for his master's attention as their quarry got away.

"Let's go, Let's go! Get this thing in gear, boy!" Daniels tells Jonathan, who was calling for his sister.

"Imhotep! Imhotep!" he yelled up to the window Ankhara had previously used to gaze down at him. They could hear Imhotep's unearthy howl as they pulled away, and Ankhara could feel his fury through their bond.

"You're going to get yours, Beni, do you hear me? You're gonna get yours!" O'Connell tells his old comrade angrily.

"Oh, like I've never heard that before," Beni shouts back.

" _ **Why do you persist in delaying the inevitable, Ankhara! I will be regenerated, and I will raise my love. You can not stop it!"**_ he spat at her in her mind.

" _ **No, I suppose not,"**_ she replied. _**"But I can make it a headache you'll never forget. You more than almost anyone know how stubborn I can be."**_

They had thought they had made a clean getaway, but Jonathan soon stopped hard as they saw more of the hoard just standing there in front of them, calm as you please. O'Connell looked at Jonathan, and saw the fear on his face and made the decision for him. He stomped on his foot that was on the accelerator, starting the car forward again. Jonathan yelled in shock and pain as he maintained his grip on the steering wheel.

They were all eventually occupied as the contraption they were in was swarmed by the hive minded masses. They were fighting left, right, and center, in the vain hope that an opening would make itself known, and they could escape. But the metal chariot didn't go fast enough, even if it did go faster than the ones in her day.

"Hey! O'Connell! O'Connell!" Daniels screamed as he was pulled from the car. He had his coat hanging over one arm. The canopic jar within one of it's pockets. Taking out his revolvers from his side holsters, he began firing into the crowd. Left, right. Left, right. One, two. One, two. Until all 12 rounds had been fired. But those 12 rounds only brought down 12 men, and there were hundreds now left surrounding him.

Then the crowd parted, letting the creature and his little pet, Beni, through. The mummy was still missing the lower part of his face. It was an odd, yet terrifying look. Half human, half mummy. Daniels had just enough left of his sanity not to shit his pants. Fingers shaking, he reached down and grabbed a hold of the jar in his jacket pocket, bringing it up to show Imhotep, the jackal head looking right at the mummy. This seemed to only enrage the monster.

Just as he caught sight of the jar, Imhotep roared, and completed his regeneration, killing Daniels and leaving nothing but his dried, terrified looking husk on the ground at his feet. It was then the car Jonathan was driving crashed. It was disorienting for Ankhara. The sudden stop as her regeneration completed. They all jumped out, O'Connell grabbing a torch and swinging it to hold the chanting mob at bay.

They didn't have to wait long until Imhotep joined them. Looking as he did the day he was condemed, Beni trailing behind him.

" _ **We are regenerated,"**_ Ankhara said. A comment repeated by Dr. Bey.

" _ **He's gorgeous,"**_ Evelyn admits to Ankhara in a low murmur. Ankhara nodded.

" _ **Before he was corrupted by my sister, he looked even better. Evil always tends to warp the beautiful if it is that way to begin with."**_

Imhotep began to speak, and Beni translated for the rest who didn't speak Ancient Egyptian.

"Come with me, my princess. It is time to make you mine forever," Beni said. Evelyn though, wouldn't let that translation stand.

"For all eternity, idiot," she snapped.

Imhotep spoke again. "Take my hand, and I will spare your friends." O'Connell scoffs as he gripped the torch with both hands, ready for a fight.

"Oh, dear," Evelyn said. "Have you got any bright ideas?" she asked O'Connell.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking."

"You better think of something fast, because if he turns me into a mummy, you're the first one I'm coming after," she said. O'Connell was shocked by this admission, that he didn't react to Evelyn until she was in Imhotep's arms.

"No," he said, pulling his side arm.

"Don't," Evelyn said.

"No," Ardeth said, placing a firm hand on O'Connell's arm.

"He still has to take me to Hamunaptra to perform the ritual," Evelyn said.

"She's right. Live today, fight tomorrow," Ardeth said, looking towards the creature. O'Connell looked into Evelyn's beautiful face for a moment before turning to Imhotep.

"I'll be seeing you again," he promised darkly as he pointed the torch towards the creature. Imhotep only smirked before turning to Ankhara.

" _ **Are you still against me, little friend? I will be bringing your sister back. She will walk with us again."**_

Ankhara shook her head. **_"Our time is done, Imhotep. Let her rest. She is in the land of the dead now. Do you really want to pull her soul away from that peace?"_** Imhotep seemed to hesitate then. Was Anck-Su-Namun at peace? He could gladly live a half life for eternity if he was sure she was at peace. Imhotep shook his head in denial then. Anck-Su-Namun herself told him when they killed Seti that he was the only one who could bring her back. She wouldn't have said such a thing if she didn't mean it.

" _ **You will not dissuade me from my course,"**_ he said finally.

" _ **Then I must uphold my vow,"**_ she whispered. Imhotep turned and guided Evelyn away, as Beni patted Jonathan down, pulling out the Key.

"Hey, that's mine," Jonathan said.

"Thank you," Beni replied, walking away.

" _ **Kill them all!"**_ Imhotep yelled. Evelyn began fighting against him in a bid to get back to her brother and friends. It was no use, he had too tight of a hold.


	6. From a Seed, A Tree Shall Grow

**_A/N 7/16/2019: I know that it has been an ungodly amount of time since I have written. Life has gotten hectic. Divorce is finally going through. New man. New car. Dad's truck finally kicked the bucket. Also, new line at work, and this one seems to be working straight 9's and 10's with more Saturdays than not. With all of that going on, I have had literally NO time to write, and real life trumps fanfics, y'all. I'm hoping to have a new chapter for DFTR up soon, but I'm not holding my breath on that one and neither should y'all. Also, the next chapter for this will be the last, but I just wanted to get something up that I had while I had the time. Thank you for all of my loyalists that are sticking with me. Nothing is abandoned. I just need to find the fracking time to write!_**

They had wondered the sewers until sunrise, ensuring that they were far enough away from the possessed mob, before they once again sought the surface. Ankhara was in awe at the subterranean tunnels. Civilization had come so far since the time of her people.

Once rejoining the surface world, the fair skinned medjai had informed the princess's brother and Ardeth on their next stop. Ardeth had told her that they were going to seek out a man who had the means to fly! Again, such wonders!

However, seeing the man who was rumored to have the ability to fly caused her to raise a skeptical eyebrow. The man was corpulent. And he seemed contented enough to sit back drinking a pungent concoction out of a brightly colored cup. He was also listening to some sort of teeth grinding music coming out of a funny horn.

" ** _This man flies?"_** she asked Ardeth.

" ** _Yes. According to O'Connell, he was once an aerial fighter. A very good one."_**

"Morning Winston! Uh, A word?" O'Connell asked of the man as they made their way to him at the top of a sand dune.

"What's you little problem got to do with His Majesty's Royal Air Corps?" Winston asked after he had listened to Rick speak for a good five minutes.

"Not a damn thing," he deadpanned.

"Is it dangerous?" Winston asked, setting his cup aside.

"You probably won't live through it," Rick said honestly.

"By Jove, do you really think so?"

"Well, everybody else we've bumped into has died. Why not you?" Jonathan said, throwing in his two cents.

"What's the… uh...What's the challenge, then?"

"Rescue the damsel in distress, kill the bad guy, and save the world," Rick listed off.

Winston laughed. "Winston Havlock at your service, sir," he said proudly, giving Rick a salute.

~~~~~~~~~)O(~~~~~~~~~

Ankhara decided to follow them. The plane, as she had been told was the name of the contraption that allowed them to fly, only alloted them one passenger and two more strapped to the wings. And no offense to modern advances, but Ankhara felt she would feel better with herself completely on the ground. So she followed through the sands. It wasn't flashy. It only looked like a ripple of sand caught in the wind. Being a part of the sands though, allowed her to get in touch with every fiber of her homeland. As such, she was able to feel Imhotep as he too travel the sands, though more ostentatiously. He had created a large dust devil to travel in with his two passengers. Because he was focusing on no killing them, he wasn't paying attention to her presence. This was a boon, and she wasn't about to ruin it by announcing her presence just yet.

The large sand tornado spat out Evy and Beni as it coalesced into the shape of the man she loved. They weren't far from Hamunaptra now. Only another half a day's ride by the chariots of her day. Imhotep's attention was drawn to the plan in the air, and she felt his mood shift from his momentary bit of triumph to annoyance and anger. He summoned the sands around her and created a wall that shot into the air. Ankhara allowed the winds he was guiding to push her forward as she raced the sup,ernatural creation to stand between him and her friends.

The little plane did everything it could to out fly storm and keep in front of it, but they didn't understand that so long as they flew over Egypt, they were at his mercy. She was too late to keep him from overtaking the plane. Imhotep had quite literally, swallowed the little plane in his created storm. But she too had power here. Power not born from a curse, but a blessing. And where Imhotep was controlling the sand from where he stood next to Evy and Beni, she, at the moment, was the sand.

Ankhara focused all of her will on calming the storm, and settling the sands. This also broke her cover, revealing herself to him as not one of the plane's passengers.

" ** _WHY?! Why do you always interfere!"_** he yelled at her through the link.

" ** _Even though it is my job to be your jailer, Imhotep, I am also much more than that. I am trying to save you,"_** she struggled to say as she continued to focus on her task.

" ** _Save me?"_** he scoffed. **_"I don't need saving!"_**

" ** _But you do. Think, Imhotep, I've told you this before! Anck-Su-Namun already had the attentions of the most powerful man in Egypt. She was easily on her way to having the life that she wanted. Then she met you. Someone who held power over Death. Who had the ability to call back every part of the soul and knew the secrets of the Underworld, and how to circumvent it's hold. You know more than anyone, Death is not the end. And Death is the only certainty waiting at the end of everyone's life. You used to be so excited for your time. So sure that you would be able to move on to the Afterlife, and serve Lord Osiris."_**

The sands faltered. In his distraction, Evy had taken the initiative and distracted him by placing him in an awkward lip lock. The power struggle between Ankhara and Imhotep ground to an immediate halt as Imotep was surprised, and Ankhara looked on through the sand bemused.

" ** _Well...That's one way to do it, I suppose_** ," she mused. Evy looked on as the sands fell once more, and had a moment of jubilation before she realized that the plane was crashing. Ankhara would have followed, but her job was to keep an eye on Imhotep. Now that she knew where he was, she wasn't letting him out of her sights… er… sands.

It seemed that he had forgotten she was there for the moment as he watched the plane crash with the other two. He then walked on towards the long dead city, as it it were an every day occurance. Though he seemed a bit more hesitant in his steps and his eyes had the look of deep hoped that the seed she had planted would grow. It was the truth, after all. One so easily seen if you looked for it. Ankhara would give Anck-Su-Namun one thing, she had always been ambitious. Even to the point of her death, and after.

She followed them into the city as they descended once again into it's depths. Evy, ever the scholar, slowed as she took in the hieroglyphs on the walls. Beni gave her shoulder a sharp shove.

"Keep moving," he growled. Ankhara couldn't help but think he sounded more like a petulant child than a scary evil villain.

Evy looked at him. "You know, nasty little fellows such as yourself, always get their comeuppance," she mused.

"Really?" Beni asked in a disbelieving breathy chuckle. "They do?"

"Oh, yes. Always," she emphasized ominously, before she calmly walked on.

Ankhara could feel that the princess's brother and the two medjai had made it into the city, she had a vague curiosity as to what could have happened to their flying friend, but that they were currently trying to locate the book of Amun Ra. But they weren't as careful as she was. There was a loud banging echo as the fair skinned medjai used his weapon to kill a scarab. Imhotep, not wanting anyone to interfer, used the sand that had once been Anck-Su-Namun's liver, and blew it on the relief in front of him.

" ** _Satay vapuku ra eck,"_** he chanted, calling the spirits of his long departed priests once again to his service.

Ankhara could feel their souls crying out in agony, how could Imhotep miss it? They had been at peace. Judged and had, for the most part, moved on. But their master had called, and they answered. Bound by spells and oaths active even in death.

"Bembridge Scholars never wrote about this," Evy said nervously as she and Beni backed away from the two new mummies walking the realm of the living once again. They bowed to him and he to them in acknowledgement before giving them an order.

" ** _Kill them...and wake the others."_**


End file.
